Boko Haram Update

It can be difficult to get a clear picture of who is doing what and where in Nigeria’s northeastern province. Chadien, Camoroonian, and Nigerien troops are all involved while Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad, better known as Boko Haram, is terrorizing Nigeria. In the wake of Boko Haram’s pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, what is the state of Goodluck Jonathan’s pledge to drive Boko Haram out.

Nigeria is starting to show its hand with the recent report that hundreds of mercenaries from South Africa are conducting special military operations and training its ground troops. The mercenaries came with military grade helicopters equipped with trained pilots and special weaponry to combat Boko Haram. This resulted from the United States refusal to sell the Nigerian government COBRA helicopters.

Nigeria is still waiting for an approval from the United Nations Security Council on a proposition submitted by the African Union to force of 10,000 soldiers from neighboring countries to fully oppose Boko Haram. It was agreed upon in October 2014 that the four nations of the Lake Chad Basin would bring their forces together to combat Boko Haram until a more formal agreement was made by the African Union.

The original agreement for the Joint Task force called for troops from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad, and Benin. Nigeria and Chad would provide most of the troops; 3,250 and 3,000 respectively, and they will be accompanied by a Chadian Special Forces unit. 950 men from Cameroon, 750 from Niger, and 750 from Benin will comprise the rest. The specific mission of the Multinational Joint Task Force, would be to conduct “military operations to prevent the expansion of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups’ activities and eliminate their presence”, said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission back in.

The agreement from talks in Niamey in January determined that the headquarters of the MJTF is set to be in N’Djamena, Chad. Operations began in the past few weeks while still waiting some official approvals. The AU approval passed today.

France has had a longstanding security operation to protect French nationals and provide military support to President Idriss Deby within Chad. Currently, France has 40 military advisers on Niger’s southern border to assist Nigeria with military coordination and has 3,000 troops stationed near Lake Chad as part of its Operation Barkhane, a task to eliminate Islamic extremists in the region.

Nigeria boasts the largest military in Africa’s West while simultaneously attempting to delay international assistance. It is being reported that the Multinational Joint Task Force will only be able to conduct military operations between Niger’s Diffa border town and the towns of Baga and Ngala in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Director of National Intelligence stated on Wednesday in Washington D.C., at the Atlantic Council, that the election date that was postponed until March 28^th will take place as scheduled and Boko Haram will not be occupying any part of Nigeria.

Lately, Boko Haram has been vigilant in its quest to recapture Maiduguri. On Saturday, 4 suicide bombs were detonated in succession in different parts of the Borno State capital. A bomb secured to a woman in a fish market was detonated while an hour later another bomb was set off in Monday market. It was confirmed that 54 people were killed and 143 were wounded.

During the January talks in Niamey, Chad’s President Idriss Deby secured regional control of his troops. His push for control over the task force has all the markings that Deby is solely thinking about Chad’s vital interests. Deby has a strong interest with securing borders to prevent any sort of rebellion that has risen in the Central African Republic for more than a decade.

Nigeria has been very guarded about Chadian troops coming into Nigeria to since the morning of January 16th, dictating that any operations taking place within Nigeria have to conform to its own strategy. Both countries share common concerns, just different methods of achieving them. The goal is to maintain control of the region of Lake Chad where Nigeria meets Niger, Chad, and Cameroon and the containment of extremists groups in Libya.